Robert and I had a really nice day off today. We had a slow morning and then headed up to a town an hour and a half north of us – a town that has experienced a lot of sadness over the last 3 years. R wanted to take me to a funky cafe/restaurant for lunch (a cafe with a sad yet beautiful story for another day). We called friends last minute to see if they could join us…and they could! Yay for lunch with friends and yay for spontaneity!
Then we headed a bit further to an oyster farming village where we have volunteered previously. I’ve only been there 2 or 3 other times, but R goes up more regularly (and really enjoys it). It’s a village that also experienced a lot of sadness and loss – yet, my goodness, it is really beautiful.
Yet the evidence of the tsunami is still present. Although much work has been done to clean up the area, there is still a bit of debris.
Who did this case belong to? What about the shoe (or the bra? or the cell phone? or the pieces of fishing equipment?)?
Yet the oyster farmers are pressing on. They are working hard and trying to rebuild their businesses and community. It’s a slow process with few homes rebuilt, many living in temporary housing, and many who have left the village.
As this was our day off/sabbath, we didn’t go there to work – we went there to walk. R discovered a little walking path on his last trip there that goes along the coast and up into the hills (maybe a logging road?). We walked a bit of the way with R’s oyster farming friend who, from time to time, asks some pretty poignant spiritual questions (and is a fun guy to be around).
R also heard that there was a bunker from WWII. We found 2 caves and explored (just a little) – amazing to go into these spaces and think about how much has changed in the last 70 years.
We walked a little further and came across a little lighthouse. We hope to go back and perhaps camp 
R thinks it might be a good place for his time away for prayer (what he referenced in our last newsletter.)
After a full week last week with another full week ahead this week, it was really lovely to go away for a few hours. The weather was wonderful (cool and crisp), the ocean was calm, and the smell of the woods was…pretty much my favorite. 
Ok, really (pardon the cheese), this guy is my favorite. 
R will be making more trips to this area in the upcoming months. Please pray for our friend to have good interactions with Christians and that conversations would be “seasoned with salt.” (and, yep, that God’s kingdom would come to this peninsula and to our friend!)
Please pray for us, too, that we would work hard when we should and rest well when we should – that we would learn what “Sabbath rest” looks like for us in Japan.
